plunge to the depths
by wild wolf free17
Summary: There are legends of a daughter of the sea.
1. exchange the deep for the sky

**Title**: exchange the deep for the sky

**Fandom**: Disney's _The Little Mermaid_

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; just for fun.

**Warnings**: spoilers for the movie, duh

**Pairings**: none

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 150

**Point** **of** **view**: third

* * *

She tries to scream, but her voice is gone, traded away for the legs now forming in place of her tail. She's never felt such pain, so deep inside; her body is shifting, organs rearranging, and only once the pain is gone does she realize she can't breathe anymore. She has to reach the surface, but she can't swim in this changed body—nothing feels right. 

As Sebastian and Flounder help her upwards, she wishes she had her voice, so she could beg the sea witch to change her back.

But then she's looking at the sky and she inhales, and it's so different… so fascinating. The water is cold on her new skin and she's so tired, but maybe—she stares at the sky as Flounder and Sebastian tow her to shore. It's never been so beautiful. She shivers and her ta—_legs_ ache. She breathes.


	2. I couldn't live long far from the ocean

**Title**: I couldn't live long far from the ocean

**Fandom**: Disney's _The Little Mermaid_

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; title from Adrienne Rich.

**Warnings**: spoilers for film; sequel and prequel are ignored

**Pairings**: mentions of Eric/Ariel

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 425

**Point** **of** **view**: third

* * *

Her husband watches, her prince, dear and gentle Eric. He will be a king of men and she is the daughter of the sea, a child of tempest and depths. He watches as she goes to the beach every morning, wades up to her knees, lets her hair down and sings. Her song is not for human ears and she knows he does not understand.

Her sisters hear and come, powerful tails giving them speed through the water no man could attain. Together, voices twining around each other, they sing the song of the ocean, daughters of the sea, princesses of the most potent kingdom in the world.

Once their song ends, as the sun rises, her sisters ask her to come back. She longs to—she misses them, and their father, her friends and the adventures found beneath the waves.

But Eric waits patiently in the castle, her sweet and gentle husband. She knows now that she does not love him, not yet. The lust and infatuation have faded to a deep friendship. She could grow to love him.

Always, she tells her sisters no. They clasp her hands, run fingers through her tangled and salty hair, and tell her the sea is immortal.

_Your human will die_, her sisters murmur. _And you will live on, as long as the sea_.

As they swim away, leaving her in the shallows, longing to follow, she whispers, _I will come home one day._

She is the youngest daughter of the ocean, beloved, favored above all others. She is wife of a kind and gentle man. But the tempests roar in her blood and eventually the call will be too strong. She'll leave Eric; she'll leave the courtiers who watch with cold, judging eyes; she'll leave the land with all its marvels and wonders—she'll return to the sea.

Eric watches as she walks out of the waves; they lap at her feet, splashing her sodden night-clothes. Her hair is long and tangled, soaked with salt, fire-bright as the sun shines down on her.

She will miss the warmth of the sun, when she goes home.

He does not understand, she knows. He remembers their battle with the sea witch; he remembers her tail and how she walked out of the sea on strong human legs. But he is only a man and he cannot hear the call, and one day she will go back to the ocean and swim to the depths.

Her sisters wait for her, and their father, and the immortal, endless sea.


	3. into the wild

**Title**: into the wild

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: none

**Pairings**: Eric/Ariel

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 120

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: carriages

* * *

It isn't the carriage itself that she loves. She actually doesn't like them very much; they're so little, so enclosed. She prefers being on the horse instead, hair loose and wearing trousers, Eric laughing on the horse next to her.

But for some reason the human world frowns on that. She's patiently working on them, but for now she has to settle for carriage rides into the town or the countryside, Eric next to her.

It's not the same as the ocean, or walking, or running, or riding a horse, but it is still novel, the fabric of the seats, the smoothness of the wood, and the wind—oh, the wind.

She is a daughter of tempests, and she loves the wind.


	4. stormchild

**Title**: storm-child

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: the prequel and sequel don't exist

**Pairings**: Eric/Ariel

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 155

**Point of view**: third

**Prompt**: Ariel/Eric, shortly post-honeymoon, Ariel is homesick

* * *

There's a storm to the east, churning the water and lashing rain against the windows. Eric is asleep, dreaming of drowning, and Ariel stands in the tallest tower, eyes closed, listening to the roar.

Her father's voice reverberates in the thunder and her sisters' song is woven along the lightning, and she can feel the deep call of the ocean in her bones.

Eric doesn't understand. None of these landbound folk do. She is a daughter of tempests and waves, the most beloved child of Triton. She is as wild and dangerous as the sea, no matter what Eric's shining courtiers think, with their lying eyes and painted smiles.

She has wed a man because she loves him. She lives on land because he cannot survive at her home, and she is happy. Truly she is.

But she stands in the highest tower and watches the storm and knows that her family misses her, too.


	5. a king's boon

**Title**: a king's boon

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: post-movie; ignores sequel

**Pairings**: Eric/Ariel

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 420

**Point of view**: third

**Prompt**: Ariel/Eric, Ariel convinces Triton to turn Eric into a merman temporarily so they can make an official visit.

* * *

Eric has watched his wife stare longingly at the sea for nearly a year now, and he's tired of it. She has embraced life on land, has listened to the courtiers with their innuendoes and barely-hidden barbs, has studied the history of his people, hasn't even seen her father or sisters since the wedding.

It is not fair. She's hurting, and that he will not abide.

So early one morning, while Ariel reads in the library, Eric takes out a small boat. Over the open water, he calls for King Triton, Lord of the Ocean, Emperor of the Deep. His father-in-law.

No one replies until the sun is high in the sky, and then Triton is there, powerful and intimidating, looming above the fragile dinghy.

"What do you want, human?" Triton demands. "Where is my daughter?"

"She misses you," Eric says, shoving aside his fear, allowing only the loving husband to speak. "I've come to ask a boon of you, your majesty."

Triton subsides, face gentling. "Ask."

Eric takes a deep breath. "You turned your daughter into a human woman because that was her greatest wish. I want her to be happy, so I request that you change us both into merfolk for a time. So that she may show me her home, as I've shown her mine."

"And if she chooses to stay with us, King Eric?" Triton leans in close, and Eric hears hurricanes in his voice. "What will you do then?"

"I cannot stay with her beneath the waves," Eric admits. "I have a duty to my people, my kingdom. But if returning to you, to the ocean, is what makes her happy, I will willingly leave her."

Triton nods, smiling. "Then return to your castle and your bride," he says. "Tell her to swim out with you tomorrow at dawn. I will leave the choice of visiting her home to her." He dives, without a single ripple to show his passing, and Eric begins the long trip back to shore.

It takes less time than expected because a wave pushes him most of the way. Grimsby meets him at the dock, frown firmly in place, but Eric simply laughs at him and hurries past.

He must find Ariel and tell her that he wants to see her home, to see her dance and fly in the water, to _know_ her true self, that wild and passionate daughter of the sea. And if she chooses to stay there, he will understand. He will.

But he fervently hopes she won't.


	6. dark water

Title: dark water

Disclaimer: not my characters

Warnings: AU before the sequel; dark; implied violence and bad things; character death

Pairings: mentions of Eric/Ariel

Rating: PG13

Wordcount: 420

Point of view: third

Prompt: any, any, the world is full of ghosts

* * *

_Once upon a time_, she murmurs to herself, _long long ago and far far away_. She sniffs back sobs and shudders, quieting her voice just a little for, _A pretty princess made a mistake._

It's so cold. She can't feel her hands anymore. Can barely hear her voice, even though she knows she still has one.

… almost certain she still has one. Out of all the things stolen, she won't let them have her voice. Not again.

They took her red hair with their shears, and her royal gowns, and her castle, and her husband, her prince, her beloved. Her baby snatched from her arms to be raised by someone else, someone who will most likely spend iyears/i trying to beat the demon out of her daughter – but there is no demon. There is only the ocean.

The ocean. Out of reach, out of sight, out of memory.

They've stolen the ocean, and the river, and the lake, and the rain.

But her voice is _hers_, the only thing left, and she will _sing_.

_Father Waters_, she murmurs, eyes closed, trying to remember how it felt to be held by the sea, _Mother Deep. I dream of you. Have you forgotten me?_

How has it been since the invaders stormed the castle, killed most, and captured the rest? Eric is dead, but they dared not kill her – her story was well-known, and they didn't want to risk angering the ocean, though they called her demon.

They call her demon, witch, monster. Locked away from the world, from the humans who _dare_ – oh, _how_ they _dare_.

_I am your daughter_, she sings, _daughter of the sea – Father Waters, Mother Deep._

_Quiet, demon!_ the human guard shouts, banding on the door. He is not one of her humans.

Deep in her heart of hearts, where it is cold and the sun never shines, she knows what will happen. Her father is giving her time with her new family, her husband and her daughter, before visiting. How long has it been?

The sea is not forgiving. The ocean has no mercy.

She is the daughter of a god, and the land folk will feel her fury. They will die of it.

Until then… she sings.

_Once upon a time, long long ago and far far away, a pretty princess made a mistake._

She looks at the door, as the guard bangs on it again. Outside, a storm is rising.

_Father Waters, Mother Deep, your daughter waits for you. Come to me._

Outside, it rains.


End file.
